Photographer's Note

According to wikipedia, "The Bridges of Madison County" is a 1992 best-selling novel by Robert James Waller which tells the story of a married but lonely Italian woman, living in 1960s Madison County, Iowa, who engages in an affair with a National Geographic photographer from Bellingham, Washington who is visiting Madison County in order to create a photographic essay on the covered bridges in the area. The novel is presented as a novelization of a true story, but it is in fact entirely fictional. However, the author has stated in an interview that there are strong similarities between the main character and himself.

The novel is one of the bestselling books of the 20th century, with 50 million copies sold worldwide. It tells the remainder of the two main characters' story after their four-day affair. They never meet again, but their lives are interlocked until death.

"The Bridges of Madison County" was made into a 1995 film of the same name, adapted by Richard LaGravenese and directed by Clint Eastwood. It stars Eastwood and Meryl Streep. It has also been adapted into a musical with music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown and the book by Marsha Norman. The musical premiered at the Williamstown Theatre Festival on August 1, 2013. Directed by Bartlett Sher, the cast featured Elena Shaddow as Francesca and Steven Pasquale. The musical opened on Broadway at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre on January 17, 2014 and officially on February 20, 2014 with Kelli O'Hara as Francesca and Steven Pasquale as Robert Kincaid. Directed by Bartlett Sher, the sets are by Michael Yeargan, costumes by Catherine Zuber, and lighting by Donald Holder. Hunter Foster plays the role of Bud Johnson, the husband of Francesca.

oOo

In summer 2012, I had a chance to drive from Memphis Tennessee to Omaha, Nebraska. From St. Louis Missouri instead of continuing on Interstate I-29N after I-70W at Kansas City, we took I-35N to go to Iowa state to search the "The Covered Bridges of Madison County". Although we got lost due to the failure of GPS, finally we were lucky to find some of them. This is the snapshot I captured during the rare & quick visit. Please share with me.